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Arrival in Ethiopia

It is said that the Nine Saints arrived in Axum, the first great capital city of Ethiopia, in 480. They came from various parts of the East Roman Empire, having fled the persecutions of the Orthodox who remained faithful to the teaching of St. Cyril after Chalcedon's acceptance of the semi-Nestorian tome of Pope Leo the Great. The most prominent among the Nine Saints were the hieromonks Abba Aftse, Abba Gerima (also known as Abba Yisihaq), Abba P'entelewon (Panteleimon), Abba Yem'ata, and Abba Zemika'el Aregawi, but the names of Abba Alef (also known as Abba Os), Abba Guba, Abba Libanos (also known as Abba Mete'a), and Abba Liqanos were also recorded. Additionally, Abba Sehma is also sometimes named as one of the Nine Saints, though he may have been one of the Righteous Ones.

Missionary labors

The histories of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church record that the Nine Saints lived for a time at St. Pachomius' Monastery in Egypt before continuing on to Ethiopia. After their arrival in Axum the Nine Saints studied Ge'ez, the national language at that time, and learned the customs of the Ethiopian people. They then spread out in different directions, preaching the Gospel and establishing monasteries wherever they went. Only Abba Libanos and Abba P'antalewon remained near Axum, the latter founding a church on the outskirts of this city that continues in use to this day.

Of the Nine Saints who left the vicinity of Axum several established monasteries and churches on old centers of pagan worship. In the place where a serpent had long been worshiped Abba Zemika'el overthrown the pagan cult and founded the famous Monastery of Debre Damo. Abba Aftse traveled to the once great city of Yeha, where he converted its ancient Sabaean temple into a church.

Thanks to the work of the Nine Roman Saints the Apostolic Faith was firmly planted in Ethiopia and began to use the Ge'ez language in its divine services instead of Greek. The Nine Saints were themselves responsible for having the translation of the Holy Bible, begun in the time of St. Frumentius, completed. They also had a number of the writings of the Fathers, including those of Ss. Athanasius of Alexandria, Cyril of Alexandria, and Pachomius the Great, translated into Ge'ez.

Legacy

The Nine Saints are credited in Ethiopia with inaugurating a new era in the life of the young Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The development of the country's sacred music, liturgical life, and literature all received a boost as a result of the Nine Saints' labors and those of their disciples. One of their disciples, St. Yared (Jared), devised the tonal system of Ethiopian Orthodox sacred music and also wrote many hymns. They also enriched the original Alexandrian Orthodox foundations of the Church with a number of Syriac Orthodox artistic, liturgical, and architectural influences. To this day the monasteries and churches they founded in northern Ethiopia are centers of pilgrimage for the Orthodox faithful as well as repositories of ancient texts, relics, and works of art.